


The Party (Again)

by mystery_notebook



Category: The Amazing World of Gumball
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Underage Drinking, this fandom is so tiny and i am so weak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 00:13:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3830053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystery_notebook/pseuds/mystery_notebook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leslie shows up late to one of Tobias's parties. Where the hell is Alan?<br/>Humanized characters, senior year @ Elmore High.<br/>Props, however, if you want to try to read it as non-humanized! Hot plant-on-plastic action!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Party (Again)

Leslie gripped a green plastic cup, leaning awkwardly on a stool in the swirling sea of dancing, laughing people that Tobias’s living room had become. He didn’t get it. He was dressed cute, cuter than usual: Yellow sweater, chartreuse leggings, boots cleaned and pink hair neatly coiffed. He was even wearing his trademark pink lipstick. Yet nobody was talking to him. Why? Sure, he had showed up a little bit late, but he figured he would’ve been having fun by now. Even his cousin Penny was nowhere to be seen. She was always his go-to at social gatherings, but she was probably off with Gumball doing goodness knows what. Last time Tobias suggested they get alcohol involved, he remembered Penny and her boyfriend being physically dragged from Rachel’s room after they decided it would be a good place to get away from the commotion. Either way, he supposed he hadn’t really dressed up for _her_. He had heard that… well, whatever. He didn’t really want to think about it. This party was awkward enough without who-likes-who drama.

Honestly, he hadn’t even known that this many people would be involved. At least half the class had found out about the get-together, much to Tobias’s delight and/or chagrin. The living room was almost to capacity. It had started slow, before Leslie showed up, but eventually people were walking in that Tobias barely talked to. The coffee table was moved and Juke’s laptop was plugged into the speakers. At some point, Tina (who wasn’t 21 quite yet, but whose age wasn’t often questioned in situations like this) took up donations for two bottles of something called _Crystal Clear_ which she and Jamie mixed with lemonade and handed out in green plastic cups. That’s what Leslie was holding right now-- he had asked Jamie to go easy on the clear stuff, but he was still definitely feeling whatever effects it had. Right now it was just a sensation in his stomach… but if the state of the party was anything to go by, this stuff was pretty damn strong.

Someone bumped his shoulder, spilling a bit of his drink on the floor.

“Aw man! Sorry, Leslie. I really oughta lay off on this stuff, It’s starting to make me dizzy.” Leslie turned to face his assailant. Banana Joe stood beside him, propping himself up against the wall, head nodding along to the music with admirable enthusiasm. Leslie smiled. “It’s fine. The way you’re dancing out there, it’s no wonder you’re all fizzy. I mean… oh, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do!” Joe laughed. “I go too hard for my own good. I’ll go back out once I get myself together. You having fun at all, flower man?”

“Yeah,” Leslie sighed, playing with the daisies knitted into his sweater. “I guess I’m doing alright. I was looking for Penny but I guess she’s gone.”

“That’s too bad, dude! I’d stay and talk, but I gotta get my groove on. Maybe talk to, um… hm, I dunno. Who do you hang out with normally, again?”

Leslie opened his mouth to reply, but ended up staying silent as he gave it a bit of thought. Alan? Lately he’d been hanging out with Alan, right? But his mind was made up to not think about him tonight. The other former treehouse girls would be a safer bet. Though… well, he already knew Penny was gone. And looking around, most of them seemed busy. Masami, dressed even nicer than usual, was busy dancing with Tobias and some others in the center of the room. Carrie was there too, with Ocho and Darwin of all people, though what she was doing was less dancing and more attempting to start a mosh pit. Teri was off to the side. Juke and Bobert were on the couch with her, trying to keep her upright-- the hypochondriac was exceedingly drunk, shouting “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” as the goth chick and her two weirdo friends took turns punching each other in the stomach.

With the exception of that one girl nobody talked about anymore, everyone was accounted for except for… Carmen. Leslie turned back to Banana Joe-- but he was already off again, grabbing someone at random from the crowd. Leslie bit his lip, debating joining in, but he wasn’t nearly drunk enough to be dancing like that. And regardless, he felt… weird. Like he was waiting for something, though he wasn’t sure what. He decided he would try and find Carmen.

 

\---

 

After looking around for a good couple of minutes (plus downing the rest of the lemony swill in his hand) he found himself in the sudden embrace of the tallest, nerdiest girl in the room: Sarah, who definitely wasn’t invited but had helped herself to a decent amount of alcohol anyway. “Leslie, please listen to me,” she mumbled as they swayed. “You have such pretty hair. Leslie? I want you to know that.”

Though he didn’t know her very well, he hugged her back with equal enthusiasm and asked her the same question he’d been asking everyone else. “Thank you, Sarah. Have you seen Carmen around at all?”

Sarah nodded, letting him go. “Yeah, she came with Alan.”

Oh, right. Alan.

“She looked kinda irritable,” Sarah continued, “But she stuck around for a while anyway. They went off somewhere before you showed up. Upstairs, I think.”

Leslie suddenly felt very, very uncomfortable. “Ah. Then I guess I won’t bother checking in on them.”

Sarah snickered, breaking into a grin. “Do you think they’re gonna, like… _do it?_ ”

Leslie choked on the last of his drink.

 

\---

 

“...So now they’re upstairs doing unspeakable things to one another while I stay down here, alone. It’s unfair, it’s unlawful! It’s absolutely phosphorus!”

Jamie nodded, sitting cross-legged in Tina’s lap, trying to mix booze and lemonade without moving from her spot on the kitchen floor. “Sucks to suck, buddy. If you want the cactus girl to date you or whatever, challenge her boyfriend to a fight. Girls love it when dudes fight!”

Leslie suddenly felt… drunk. Yep, there it was. “I... don’t know about that, guys.”

Tina nodded. “Come on, Leslie, fisticuffs! You’re a wimp, but so is he. Just taller. I bet it’ll be a fair fight if you hide a knife in your sweater or something.”

Jamie smirked, handing over the concoction as Leslie continued to look deeply uncomfortable. “What’s the matter? You afraid you’re gonna lose to that long-legged goody two shoes?”

Leslie shook his head. “First of all, if I was going to fight someone, I don’t think I’d want to actually kill them.” His words left his mouth with a bit of a lilt. It felt as if they were going just a tad too quickly for his brain to sign off on. "Second, Jamie, Carmen isn’t really who I want to… who I was planning on, um… I don’t know. Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

He turned to go before Jamie grabbed him by his leggings. “Hold up, man. Are you saying we should be preparing you to fight the cactus girl instead?”

“Don’t repair me to fight _anybody_ , please!”

The two athletic girls snorted in unison and started laughing as their acquaintance blushed and backed away with his drink.

 

\--

 

Tobias’s upstairs was just as nice as his downstairs, if a little bit quieter. A hallway with some sitting space and a few doors that probably led to bedrooms-- he got the feeling like he shouldn’t be up here, but he was done trying to dance. And, besides… he really wanted to see Carmen. And Alan. Or, let’s be honest here, just Alan without Carmen.

But that was dumb. He took a deep breath, turning on his heel to head back downstairs. Maybe if he finished this drink (and pried Jamie and Tina away from each other long enough to get them to make him another one) he could spend the rest of the night dancing with Joe and the others and make up for being such a wimp.

“Oh! Hello, Leslie. I didn’t know you were here.”

Speak of the devil. Or, more accurately, speak of the saint.

“Alan! I--- Hello. I showed up late.”

Leslie pivoted back around, uneasily, and leaned on the railing of the stairs. Alan, despite sounding more or less like his usual high-pitched self, looked… bad. Really bad. Red-ringed eyes and messed-up hair bad. His outfit, a black pleated skirt and teal t-shirt, was off-kilter just enough to look really sad. Leslie looked concerned. “Have you… been crying?”

Alan shrugged, averting his eyes. “It’s not important. What are you drinking?”

“It’s, um. It’s a 50/50 mix of clear grain alcohol and lemonade. You can thank Tina and her girlfriend.”

Alan nodded, sniffing. “I will. I don’t really drink, but… if maybe you could...”

Leslie handed him his cup, which Alan accepted and took a sip from experimentally. He winced, but kept it in between his hands. Ugh, he was adorable even when he was emotionally wrecked. Was this really happening? Were the two of them alone? The pink haired boy scratched his neck, feeling selfish, and tried to find something productive to say.

 

“Carmen broke up with me last week.”

Leslie looked up at his blue-haired friend. “What?”

“I didn’t... want to tell anyone. She just told me that she needed a break.”

“Oh.”

“She promised me it wouldn’t be permanent, but I think it is.” Alan sighed, resting his nose on the edge of the cup. “Sorry if you didn’t see me downstairs.”

 

“It’s alright,” Leslie replied. “Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want anybody feeling bad for me. If Carmen would prefer to be with someone else, I have to respect that. Nothing lasts forever.”

Leslie sighed. “C’est la vie,” he offered. “I’m... sorry I don’t have any real advice. I’m a little bit drunk right now.”

Alan shrugged. “It’s fine.” He kicked his heel backwards, finally looking Leslie in the eye. “I’m glad you’re up here. I don’t really want real advice right now.”

 

Once again, words fell from Leslie’s mouth without any formal approval from his brain.

“If you don’t want advice, maybe you want a rebound?”

 

Alan’s eyebrows raised. “A what?”

Yep, Leslie was drunk. Drunk and making bad decisions, stepping closer to Alan as his heart beat faster in his chest.

“I don’t know. Everyone kept saying Carmen was perfect for you. _Like salt and pepper, like yin and yang_. Maybe you need someone who _isn’t_ perfect for you, you know? Yin and… yong, or something.”

“I guess that’s a valid point.”

Leslie grabbed his friend’s skirt and pulled it towards him, holding it against his own lacy sweater to compare. “Maybe you need someone who’s a little more similar.”

Alan went red-faced, clutching the beverage tighter between his hands. “That… would that make you happy?”

Leslie scoffed. “I just think it’d be nice. You’re the one guy who doesn’t mind hanging out with me, you know that? Whenever the girls do something on their own and you call me up and ask to hang out-- that means a lot to me. I like being friends with you.”

“Sure. I think we have a lot in common.”

“I think so too.”

The boy with blue hair paused. “You like me, then?”

“Of course I do, Alan. You’re the most popular guy in school. Selfless, kind, caring, and so refractive.”

Alan giggled uneasily. “Attractive? Thank you.”

“And of course it would make me happy. But you shouldn’t care about that.”

Leslie took a deep breath, trying to figure out exactly what to say.

“Alan, be honest. Do you think I’m pretty?”

Alan nodded.

“Tell me I’m pretty.”

“You’re gorgeous.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You have… a sweet face and great hair. And a wonderful sense of fashion.”

Leslie smiled. “Thank you. I used to get teased for dressing the way I do.”

“And I told you when I started wearing skirts, it was because we were friends. It was an act of solidarity. But... looking back, I think I mostly I just admired your look and thought it could work for me, too. You’re cool, Leslie. You’re unique. I like you too.”

Leslie nodded happily, resting his hands on Alan’s waist. The cup was shaking, ever so slightly, in his friend’s exhausted grip.

“Would dating me make _you_ happy?”

Alan paused, sniffing again. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it.”

 

Leslie took the cup back, setting it on the railing, and brought his face up carefully to Alan’s. After a bit of hesitation, Alan met him in the middle. Lips touched, softly, and Leslie swore his heart actually skipped a beat. After a moment, they broke apart-- and Alan was the one who leaned forward to kiss him again.

 

“So... have you just been up here being sad, or what?”

Alan nodded, pulling away.

“Come downstairs with me. Talk to your friends. Dance.”

“I don’t know, Leslie. I’m still feeling kinda… deflated.”

The pink-haired boy kissed him on the cheek. “It’ll help. I promise.”

 

Alan brought him into a hug, burying his face in his magenta hair. They stood like that, arms around one another, for a decent while before heading back downstairs.

 

\---

 

Alan and Leslie sat on Tobias’s couch, holding hands and clutching matching green cups-- though Alan’s was mostly lemonade, which he had requested from Jamie through a lecture about not having to drink to have fun. Gumball and Penny were back in the mix. They had been in the basement looking for snacks, and Leslie felt a little sheepish for thinking otherwise. Everyone else seemed to be having just as much fun as before: Banana Joe was going hard as ever, currently swing-dancing shirtless with a terrified Clayton. Tobias had made taquitos. Teri was asleep. Carrie had finally toned things down a bit, she and Ocho kneeling by the coffee table to help Darwin out with a fresh black eye. The party had reached a sweet spot, and with his gross (but great?) drink in one hand and Alan in the other, Leslie finally felt like he was enjoying himself. And even when Carmen came back, it wasn't that weird. She waved at Alan, nervously, and Alan waved back. Then the boys were left alone on the sofa as she was swept back into the crowd by her friends.

 

 


End file.
